This week’s listeners ask the GI crew the hard questions. Such as which video game characters deserve their own movie and who should play them, what leads to gaming fatigue, and what’s the best way to market a video game?
Read their questions below, or submit your own via the Official Game Informer Community Discord or by emailing us at Podcast@GameInformer.com:
I was recently turned on to your show. I really like your work, other than sometimes one of the hosts lets his big man swag get to his head. With the voice cast released for the upcoming Mario movie, it’s got me very excited. I really enjoyed the casting of Charlie Day as Luigi, two people I relate to a lot. This got me thinking what video game characters would you like to see hit the big screen and who should play them? It can be live-action or animated. Bonus question: What is something you hate or love about Alex Stadnik, and you can’t tell him which one it is. – Evan McLaughlin
I did it. I just finished the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and I’ve been playing since the game was released back in May. I know, I know, give me a break. I have an infant at home, and a demanding job, so I’m lucky to get 10 hours of gaming in per week. Having the trilogy play as one seamless and cohesive experience makes for such a deeper impact on the story and characters. I absolutely loved playing this game again, but man, was it long! I was so ready to be done like 30 hours ago, and now I’m so behind on all the other games I’ve wanted to play. This brings me to my question about this thing called Gaming Fatigue. I feel like there was a time during my childhood and college days, where I would’ve loved a 100+ hour game, so why am I experiencing this fatigue now? Is it a result of having limited time, or is this seemingly high demand for new video games and content so pervasive now that I feel I need to move quickly from one game to the next? This same fatigue made me want to be done with a beautiful game. I rushed through content and meaningful conversations just to get through it more quickly, and I don’t like that I did that. Can we talk about this conundrum?? -Taylor Whitt, Nashville, TN
It’s been some time since I’ve written into the show, and I wanted to start off by congratulating Alex S. and Alex V. on the fantastic job they’re doing since taking the reins of the show. I love the energy and the new direction of the podcast, and it has been a pleasure to listen to the show over the past weeks under the new management (hats off to Reeves as well for the fantastic job he did with the show previously). My question comes following some pointed commentary from the gaming community on social media towards games marketing cycles for recently released titles Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Deathloop. In the case of Kena, there was much hand wringing and complaining about the lack of marketing for the game. I saw many comments that there wasn’t enough of the game shown and not enough being done to push the game leading up to the launch. In stark contrast, I saw an equal, if not higher, amount of complaints that Arkane’s Deathloop was over-marketed and that they “Showed too much” of the game since it was first revealed last year at Sony’s PS5 premier event. My question to the panel is this – what is the right way to market a game? It seems that gaming companies can’t win with the audience, and I rarely hear a marketing cycle praised for doing it right. It’s either too over-marketed or too undermarketed or pushed for too long or out of touch with the fans or some other complaint. Is there a right way to market a game that will appeal to fans without rubbing the intended consumers the wrong way? Lastly, what is the best example of a marketing cycle that you’ve seen that you think more companies should follow when bringing their games to the public? – Wes Bates, Woodland, CA